A social network service is an online service, platform, or site that can facilitate building social networks among people (e.g., based on shared interests, activities, backgrounds, real-life connections, etc.). The social network service can include a representation of each user (e.g., user profile), and each user can have connections with other users. The social network service can further allow users to share ideas, activities, events, interests, etc. within their individual networks, to subsets of their individual networks, or publicly (e.g., with users outside their individual networks).
Some conventional techniques employ data associated with a social network of a user to personalize search results returned by a search engine for such user. Some traditional approaches, for instance, use data associated with social network activities of other users connected to a particular user (e.g., one or two hop connections of the particular user, etc.) to augment or personalize search results returned responsive to a search query for the particular user. Examples of conventional techniques include annotating search results for the particular user based upon feedback pertaining to social network content expressed by the other users connected to the particular user and highlighting search results for the particular user that have been recently read or recommended by the other users connected to the particular user. However, sparseness of the data associated with social network activities of the other users connected to the particular user may lead to few search queries of the particular user being affected by such conventional techniques.
Moreover, other conventional techniques for personalizing search results returned by a search engine for a given user commonly utilize search history data of the given user. Thus, data related to activities of the given user when employing the search engine can be used to personalize search results for that given user. However, if the given user has not previously visited and used the search engine (e.g., the given user is a new user of the search engine), then the search results typically are unable to be personalized if employing such a conventional technique. Additionally, if the given user performs a new type of search using the search engine that expresses a new kind of interest, then the search history of the given user may not be particularly relevant if used to personalize search results for the given user. By way of illustration, if the given user previously employed the search engine to perform a plurality of searches related to programming languages, then the search history for the given user may lack relevance to a subsequent search related to restaurants, and thus, may have limited affect if used to personalize search results returned responsive to a search query pertaining to restaurants.